Controlling apparatus, and controlling method

ABSTRACT

A controlling method realized by a computer connected to a plurality of physical devices in which respective virtual machines (VMs) are operated and a process device which is connected to the plurality of physical devices with a plurality of routes and in which a plurality of duplication process VMs for executing a duplication process of duplicating data used by the plurality of VMs to a memory device, the method includes: acquiring loads of the plurality of routes and percentages of completion of the duplication process executed by the plurality of duplication process VMs; and, when incompletion of the duplication process using the selected route within a regulated time is detected, moving any of the duplication process VMs using the selected route to any of the plurality of physical devices from the process device.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority fromthe prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2013-250600 filed on Dec. 3,2013, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

The embodiments discussed herein are related to a controlling program, acontrolling apparatus, and a controlling method.

BACKGROUND

In the related art, in a system including a virtual machine generated ona physical device, there is provided a technology of executing aduplication (back-up) process of a storage area used by the virtualmachine. For example, a back-up device which is a physical device isprovided in such a system, and there is provided a technology ofexecuting the duplication process by the back-up device.

Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2008-123205 is an example ofthe related art.

Herein, in order to reduce delay of the duplication process due to anincrease in load of the process of the back-up device, the followingprocess is executed in the system described above. For example, in theback-up device, a duplication process virtual machine which is a virtualmachine for executing the duplication process is operated for eachduplication process, and when the duplication process is delayed, theduplication process virtual device which is a factor of the delay ismoved to a physical device other than the back-up device.

As an index for specifying the factor of the delay of the duplicationprocess, a load of a route which connects devices to each other isprovided, in addition to loads of a central processing unit (CPU) and amemory of the duplication process virtual machine operated on theback-up device. For example, the duplication process virtual machineincluding a CPU and a memory having loads equal to or greater than athreshold value is considered as a factor of the delay of theduplication process.

Herein, a route for connecting the back-up device and a memory device ata duplication destination of the duplication process may be redundant.In this case, any of the plurality of redundant routes may be used inthe plurality of duplication process virtual machines operated in theback-up device. Accordingly, when the route is redundant, although theroute having a load equal to or greater than a threshold value may bespecified as a factor of the delay of the duplication process, it isdifficult to specify the duplication process virtual machine using thespecified route. Therefore, when the route is redundant, it is difficultto specify the duplication process virtual machine moved to the physicaldevice other than the back-up device, by only specifying the route whichis the factor of the delay. Thus, when the route is redundant, in a casewhere the route is the factor of the delay of the duplication process,it may be difficult to complete the duplication process within aregulated time.

According to an embodiment, an object of the disclosure is to suppressthe delay of the duplication process, when the route is the factor ofthe delay of the duplication process.

SUMMARY

According to an aspect of the invention, a controlling method realizedby a computer connected to a plurality of physical devices in whichrespective virtual machines (VMs) are operated and a process devicewhich is connected to the plurality of physical devices with a pluralityof routes and in which a plurality of duplication process VMs forexecuting a duplication process of duplicating data used by theplurality of VMs to a memory device, the method includes: acquiringloads of the plurality of routes and percentages of completion of theduplication process executed by the plurality of duplication processVMs; and, when incompletion of the duplication process using theselected route within a regulated time is detected, moving any of theduplication process VMs using the selected route to any of the pluralityof physical devices from the process device.

The object and advantages of the invention will be realized and attainedby means of the elements and combinations particularly pointed out inthe claims.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and arenot restrictive of the invention, as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of asystem including a management server according to an example;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functionalconfiguration of a management server which is an example of acontrolling apparatus according to the example;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data structure of anallowable load quantity table;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data structure of acorrespondence relation table;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data structure of loadinformation;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data structure ofback-up information;

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data structure of sizeinformation;

FIG. 8 is a diagram for illustrating an example of a process executed bya management server according to an example;

FIGS. 9A and 9B are flowcharts illustrating a procedure of a controllingprocess according to an example;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a correspondencerelation table generation process according to an example; and

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configurationof a computer which executes a controlling program.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, examples of a management server as an example of a controldevice disclosed in this specification, a controlling program, and acontrolling method are described in detail with reference to thedrawings. The examples do not limit the technology disclosed herein.

EXAMPLES Example of Configuration of System 1

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of asystem 1 including a management server 10 according to an example. Asillustrated in the example of FIG. 1, the system 1 includes a terminal5, the management server 10, a local area network (LAN) switch 20, aback-up server 21, management target servers 22, 23, and 24, and a fiberchannel (FC) switch 25. The system 1 further includes storage servers 26and 27.

The terminal 5 is a terminal used by a user such as an operator of thesystem 1. The terminal 5, for example, includes a receiving unit (notillustrated) such as a keyboard or a mouse which receives an instructionfrom a user, and transmits the received instruction to the managementserver 10. As an example of such an instruction, an instruction ofperforming various settings of a virtual machine is provided.

The management server 10 manages various devices of the system 1. Themanagement server 10, for example, transmits the instruction ofperforming various settings of the virtual machine to the managementtarget servers 22 to 24 through the LAN switch 20. In addition, themanagement server 10 performs the following process, so that a back-upprocess, which will be described later, performed by virtual machines 21a to 21 d operated on the back-up server 21 is completed within aregulated time. That is, the management server 10 controls so that thevirtual machines 21 a to 21 d in which the back-up process is expectednot to be completed within the regulated time, are moved to any onemanagement target server among three management target servers 22 to 24.The management server 10, for example, transmits a migration instructionfor moving the virtual machine in which the back-up process is expectednot to be completed within the regulated time, to the management targetserver, to a VM host 21 e which performs a control of operating thevirtual machines 21 a to 21 d.

The back-up server 21 is connected to the management server 10 throughthe LAN switch 20. The back-up server 21 is connected to the storageserver 26. The back-up server 21 is connected to the FC switch 25through two lines 28 a and 28 b. Herein, the FC switch 25 is connectedto the storage server 27 which is a memory device at a back-updestination of the data obtained by the back-up process. As describedabove, in the system 1, there are two routes for connecting the back-upserver 21 and the storage server 27 which is a back-up destination ofthe data obtained by the back-up process. That is, in the system 1, theroutes for connecting the back-up server 21 and the storage server 27are redundant. Any of the plurality of redundant lines 28 a and 28 b maybe used in the plurality of virtual machines 21 a to 21 d.

The back-up server 21 includes the virtual machine (VM) host 21 e. TheVM host 21 e is a controlling program of virtualization software whichvirtually realizes an operation environment of a computer system, andperforms a control of operating the virtual machines 21 a to 21 d. Inaddition, the VM host 21 e performs a control of migration of thevirtual machines 21 a to 21 d among the management target servers 22 to24, according to the migration instruction received from the managementserver 10.

Each of the virtual machines 21 a to 21 d executes a back-up program forperforming the back-up process of backing up of data in a system area ofeach virtual machine operated on the management target servers 22 to 24.The virtual machine 21 a, for example, executes a back-up program A forperforming a back-up process of backing up of data in a system area ofthe virtual machine 22 a operated on the management target server 22.The virtual machine 21 b executes a back-up program B for performing aback-up process of backing up of data in a system area of the virtualmachine 22 b operated on the management target server 22. The virtualmachine 21 c executes a back-up program C for performing a back-upprocess of backing up of data in a system area of the virtual machine 23a operated on the management target server 23. The virtual machine 21 dexecutes a back-up program D for performing a back-up process of backingup of data in a system area of the virtual machine 24 a operated on themanagement target server 24. Although it will be described later, theback-up process is a process of duplicating data in a system area bystoring data in a system area stored in a storage 26 a to a back-upstorage 27 a which will be described later, and therefore the back-upprocess is also referred to as a duplication process. In addition, thevirtual machines 21 a to 21 d which execute the back-up process are anexample of the duplication process virtual machine.

The management target servers 22 to 24 are devices which are managementtargets of the management server 10. In the management target servers 22to 24, the virtual machine which executes a predetermined application isoperated, and setting of the virtual machine is performed according toan instruction of performing various settings of the virtual machinetransmitted from the management server 10.

The management target server 22 includes a VM host 22 c. The VM host 22c is a controlling program of virtualization software which virtuallyrealizes an operation environment of a computer system, and performs acontrol of operating two virtual machines 22 a and 22 b. In addition,when the VM host 22 c receives an instruction of performing varioussettings of the virtual machines 22 a and 22 b transmitted from themanagement server 10, the VM host 22 c performs various setting of thevirtual machines 22 a and 22 b according to the received instructions.The virtual machine 22 a executes a predetermined application. Inaddition, the virtual machine 22 a transmits data in a system area ofthe virtual machine 22 a to the storage server 26. Accordingly, as willbe described later, the data in the system area of the virtual machine22 a is stored in the storage 26 a of the storage server 26. The virtualmachine 22 b executes a predetermined application. The virtual machine22 b transmits the data in the system area in the virtual machine 22 bto the storage server 26. Accordingly, as will be described later, thedata in the system area of the virtual machine 22 b is stored in thestorage 26 a.

The management target server 23 includes a VM host 23 c. The VM host 23c is a controlling program of virtualization software which virtuallyrealizes an operation environment of a computer system, and performs acontrol of operating the virtual machine 23 a. In addition, when the VMhost 23 c receives an instruction of performing various settings of thevirtual machine 23 a transmitted from the management server 10, the VMhost performs various setting of the virtual machine 23 a according tothe received instructions. The virtual machine 23 a executes apredetermined application. In addition, the virtual machine 23 atransmits data in a system area of the virtual machine 23 a to thestorage server 26. Accordingly, as will be described later, the data inthe system area of the virtual machine 23 a is stored in the storage 26a.

The management target server 24 includes a VM host 24 c. The VM host 24c is a controlling program of virtualization software which virtuallyrealizes an operation environment of a computer system, and performs acontrol of operating the virtual machine 24 a. In addition, when the VMhost 24 c receives an instruction of performing various settings of thevirtual machine 24 a transmitted from the management server 10, the VMhost performs various setting of the virtual machine 24 a according tothe received instructions. The virtual machine 24 a executes apredetermined application. In addition, the virtual machine 24 atransmits data in a system area of the virtual machine 24 a to thestorage server 26. Accordingly, as will be described later, the data inthe system area of the virtual machine 24 a is stored in the storage 26a.

The FC switch 25 is a relay device which relays data. The FC switch 25is connected to the back-up server 21 through the lines 28 a and 28 b byFibre Channel fabric. The FC switch 25 is connected to the managementtarget server 22 through a line 28 c, connected to the management targetserver 23 through a line 28 d, and connected to the management targetserver 24 through a line 28 e, by Fibre Channel fabric. In addition, theFC switch 25 is connected to the storage server 27 by Fibre Channelfabric. As described above, a storage area network (SAN) is constructedin the system 1.

The storage server 26 includes the storage 26 a such as a hard diskdrive (HDD), and when the storage server receives the data in the systemarea transmitted from the virtual machines 22 a, 22 b, 23 a, and 24 a,the received data in the system area is stored in the storage 26 a.Accordingly, the data in the system area of the virtual machines 22 a,22 b, 23 a, and 24 a is stored in the storage 26 a.

The storage server 27 is a memory device at a back-up destination of thedata in the system area of the virtual machines 22 a, 22 b, 23 a, and 24a. The storage server 27 includes the back-up storage 27 a such as anHDD. When the storage server 27 receives the data in the system area ofthe virtual machine 22 a transmitted from the virtual machine 21 a whichexecutes the back-up program A, through the FC switch 25, the receiveddata is stored in the back-up storage 27 a. When the storage server 27receives the data in the system area of the virtual machine 22 btransmitted from the virtual machine 21 b which executes the back-upprogram B, through the FC switch 25, the received data is stored in theback-up storage 27 a. When the storage server 27 receives the data inthe system area of the virtual machine 23 a transmitted from the virtualmachine 21 c which executes the back-up program C, through the FC switch25, the received data is stored in the back-up storage 27 a. When thestorage server 27 receives the data in the system area of the virtualmachine 24 a transmitted from the virtual machine 21 d which executesthe back-up program D, through the FC switch 25, the received data isstored in the back-up storage 27 a.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functionalconfiguration of the management server 10 which is an example of acontrolling apparatus according to the example. As illustrated in FIG.2, the management server 10 includes a display unit 11, a communicationunit 12, a memory unit 13, and a control unit 14.

The display unit 11 displays various information items. As an example ofa device of the display unit 11, a liquid crystal display or the like isused.

When the communication unit 12 receives data such as variousinstructions transmitted from a device other than the management server10, the communication unit transmits the received data to the controlunit 14. When the communication unit 12 receives various data items fromthe control unit 14, the communication unit transmits the received datato the designated device. When the control unit 14, for example,receives an instruction of a user transmitted from the terminal 5, thecontrol unit transmits the received instruction to the control unit 14.In addition, when the communication unit 12 receives variousinstructions to the VM hosts 22 c, 22 d, and 22 e transmitted from thecontrol unit 14, the communication unit transmits the receivedinstructions to the designated VM host. As a device of the communicationunit 12, a network card is used.

The memory unit 13 stores various information items. The memory unit 13,for example, stores an allowable load quantity table 13 a, acorrespondence relation table 13 b, load information 13 c, back-upinformation 13 d, and size information 13 e.

The allowable load quantity table 13 a is a table in which maximumallowable quantities of loads of various resources of each server of theback-up server 21 and the management target servers 22 to 24 areregistered. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a datastructure of the allowable load quantity table. The allowable loadquantity table 13 a illustrated in the example of FIG. 3 includesentries of “physical server name”, “CPU power”, “memory capacity”, and“network band (SAN)”.

A name of each server for identifying each server of the back-up server21 which is a physical server and the management target servers 22 to 24is registered in the entry of the “physical server name”. As illustratedin FIG. 3, a back-up server which is the name of the back-up server 21is registered in the entry of the “physical server name” in a firstrecord of the allowable load quantity table 13 a. As illustrated in FIG.3, a management target server A which is the name of the managementtarget server 22 is registered in the entry of the “physical servername” in a second record of the allowable load quantity table 13 a. Asillustrated in FIG. 3, a management target server B which is the name ofthe management target server 23 is registered in the entry of the“physical server name” in a third record of the allowable load quantitytable 13 a. As illustrated in FIG. 3, a management target server C whichis the name of the management target server 24 is registered in theentry of the “physical server name” in a fourth record of the allowableload quantity table 13 a.

An operation frequency and the number of cores indicating processperformance of the CPU included by each server of the back-up server 21and the management target servers 22 to 24 are registered in the entryof the “CPU power”. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the operation frequency, 4GHz, and the number of cores, 32, of the CPU of the back-up server 21,the name of which is the back-up server, are registered in the entry ofthe “CPU power” in the first record of the allowable load quantity table13 a. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the operation frequency, 4 GHz, and thenumber of cores, 12, of the CPU of the management target server 22, thename of which is the management target server A, are registered in theentry of the “CPU power” in the second record of the allowable loadquantity table 13 a. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the operation frequency,4 GHz, and the number of cores, 24, of the CPU of the management targetserver 23, the name of which is the management target server B, areregistered in the entry of the “CPU power” in the third record of theallowable load quantity table 13 a. As illustrated in FIG. 3, theoperation frequency, 4 GHz, and the number of cores, 8, of the CPU ofthe management target server 24, the name of which is the managementtarget server C, are registered in the entry of the “CPU power” in thefourth record of the allowable load quantity table 13 a.

The capacity items representing the performance of the memory includedby each server of the back-up server 21 and the management targetservers 22 to 24 are registered in the entry of the “memory capacity”.As illustrated in FIG. 3, the capacity of the memory, 128 gigabytes(GB), of the back-up server 21, the name of which is the back-up server,is registered in the entry of the “memory capacity” in the first recordof the allowable load quantity table 13 a. As illustrated in FIG. 3, thecapacity of the memory, 32 GB, of the management target server 22, thename of which is the management target server A, is registered in theentry of the “memory capacity” in the second record of the allowableload quantity table 13 a. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the capacity of thememory, 64 GB, of the management target server 23, the name of which isthe management target server B, is registered in the entry of the“memory capacity” in the third record of the allowable load quantitytable 13 a. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the capacity of the memory, 16 GB,of the management target server 24, the name of which is the managementtarget server C, is registered in the entry of the “memory capacity” inthe fourth record of the allowable load quantity table 13 a.

Bands of any lines of lines 28 a to 28 e connected to each server of theback-up server 21 and the management target servers 22 to 24 areregistered in the entry of the “network band (SAN)”. As illustrated inFIG. 3, the following content is registered in the entry “network band(SAN)” in the first record of the allowable load quantity table 13 a.That is, the band, 8 gigabits per second (Gbps), of the line 28 a, thename of which is a route 1, connected to the back-up server 21, the nameof which is the back-up server, is registered. As illustrated in FIG. 3,the band, 8 Gbps, of the line 28 b, the name of which is a route 2,connected to the back-up server 21, the name of which is the back-upserver, is registered in the entry of the “network band (SAN)” in thefirst record of the allowable load quantity table 13 a. As illustratedin FIG. 3, the band, 8 Gbps, of the line 28 c, the name of which is aroute 3, connected to the management target server 22, the name of whichis the management target server A, is registered in the entry of the“network band (SAN)” in the second record of the allowable load quantitytable 13 a. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the band, 8 Gbps, of the line 28d, the name of which is a route 4, connected to the management targetserver 23, the name of which is the management target server B, isregistered in the entry of the “network band (SAN)” in the third recordof the allowable load quantity table 13 a. As illustrated in FIG. 3, theband, 4 Gbps, of the line 28 e, the name of which is a route 5,connected to the management target server 24, the name of which is themanagement target server C, is registered in the entry of the “networkband (SAN)” in the fourth record of the allowable load quantity table 13a.

The description is based on FIG. 2 again. Correspondences of identifiersof the back-up programs A to D executed by the virtual machines 21 a to21 d, and names of the lines used when the virtual machines 21 a to 21 dexecute the back-up programs A to D, are registered in thecorrespondence relation table 13 b. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating anexample of a data structure of the correspondence relation table. Thecorrespondence relation table 13 b illustrated in the example of FIG. 4includes entries of a “back-up program” and a “network route (SAN)”.

The identifiers of the back-up programs A to D executed by the virtualmachines 21 a to 21 d are registered in the entry of the “back-upprogram” by the control unit 14. As illustrated in FIG. 4, an identifierA of the back-up program A executed by the virtual machine 21 a isregistered in the entry of the “back-up program” in a first record ofthe correspondence relation table 13 b. As illustrated in FIG. 4, anidentifier B of the back-up program B executed by the virtual machine 21b is registered in the entry of the “back-up program” in a second recordof the correspondence relation table 13 b. As illustrated in FIG. 4, anidentifier C of the back-up program C executed by the virtual machine 21c is registered in the entry of the “back-up program” in a third recordof the correspondence relation table 13 b. As illustrated in FIG. 4, anidentifier D of the back-up program D executed by the virtual machine 21d is registered in the entry of the “back-up program” in a fourth recordof the correspondence relation table 13 b.

The names of the lines used when the virtual machines 21 a to 21 d forexecuting the back-up programs A to D execute the back-up programs A toD, are registered in the entry of the “network route (SAN)” by thecontrol unit 14. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the route 1 which is the nameof the line 28 a is registered in the entry of the “network route (SAN)”in the first record of the correspondence relation table 13 b. Asillustrated in FIG. 4, the route 2 which is the name of the line 28 b isregistered in the entry of the “network route (SAN)” in the secondrecord of the correspondence relation table 13 b. As illustrated in FIG.4, the route 1 which is the name of the line 28 a is registered in theentry of the “network route (SAN)” in the third record of thecorrespondence relation table 13 b. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the route2 which is the name of the line 28 b is registered in the entry of the“network route (SAN)” in the fourth record of the correspondencerelation table 13 b.

That is, the first record of the correspondence relation table 13 billustrated in the example of FIG. 4 indicates that the virtual machine21 a for executing the back-up program A, the identifier of which is A,uses the line 28 a, the name of which is the route 1, when executing theback-up program A. The second record of the correspondence relationtable 13 b illustrated in the example of FIG. 4 indicates that thevirtual machine 21 b for executing the back-up program B, the identifierof which is B, uses the line 28 b, the name of which is the route 2,when executing the back-up program B. The third record of thecorrespondence relation table 13 b illustrated in the example of FIG. 4indicates that the virtual machine 21 c for executing the back-upprogram C, the identifier of which is C, uses the line 28 a, the name ofwhich is the route 1, when executing the back-up program C. The fourthrecord of the correspondence relation table 13 b illustrated in theexample of FIG. 4 indicates that the virtual machine 21 d for executingthe back-up program D, the identifier of which is D, uses the line 28 b,the name of which is the route 2, when executing the back-up program D.

The description is based on FIG. 2 again. The loads of various resourceswhen the virtual machines 21 a to 21 d execute the back-up programs A toD are registered in the load information 13 c. FIG. 5 is a diagramillustrating an example of a data structure of the load information. Theload information 13 c illustrated in the example of FIG. 5 includesentries of a “back-up program”, a “CPU load (%)”, a “memory load (%)”,and a “load of SAN (%)”.

The identifiers of the back-up programs A to D executed by the virtualmachines 21 a to 21 d are registered in the entry of the “back-upprogram” by the control unit 14. As illustrated in FIG. 5, theidentifier A of the back-up program A executed by the virtual machine 21a is registered in the entry of the “back-up program” in a first recordof the load information 13 c. As illustrated in FIG. 5, the identifier Bof the back-up program B executed by the virtual machine 21 b isregistered in the entry of the “back-up program” in a second record ofthe load information 13 c. As illustrated in FIG. 5, the identifier C ofthe back-up program C executed by the virtual machine 21 c is registeredin the entry of the “back-up program” in a third record of the loadinformation 13 c. As illustrated in FIG. 5, the identifier D of theback-up program D executed by the virtual machine 21 d is registered inthe entry of the “back-up program” in a fourth record of the loadinformation 13 c.

The loads of the CPU of the virtual machines 21 a to 21 d when thevirtual machines 21 a to 21 d execute the back-up programs A to D areregistered in the entry of the “CPU load (%)” by the control unit 14.For example, average loads (%) of the CPU which will be described laterare registered in the entry of the “CPU load (%)” by the control unit14. An average load, 10%, of the CPU which will be described later isregistered in the entry of the “CPU load (%)” in the first record of theload information 13 c illustrated in the example of FIG. 5, by thecontrol unit 14. An average load, 20%, of the CPU which will bedescribed later is registered in the entry of the “CPU load (%)” in thesecond record of the load information 13 c illustrated in the example ofFIG. 5, by the control unit 14. An average load, 30%, of the CPU whichwill be described later is registered in the entry of the “CPU load (%)”in the third record of the load information 13 c illustrated in theexample of FIG. 5, by the control unit 14. An average load, 10%, of theCPU which will be described later is registered in the entry of the “CPUload (%)” in the fourth record of the load information 13 c illustratedin the example of FIG. 5, by the control unit 14.

The loads of the memory of the virtual machines 21 a to 21 d when thevirtual machines 21 a to 21 d execute the back-up programs A to D areregistered in the entry of the “memory load (%)” by the control unit 14.For example, average loads (%) of the memory which will be describedlater are registered in the entry of the “memory load (%)” by thecontrol unit 14. An average load, 20%, of the memory which will bedescribed later is registered in the entry of the “memory load (%)” inthe first record of the load information 13 c illustrated in the exampleof FIG. 5, by the control unit 14. An average load, 20%, of the memorywhich will be described later is registered in the entry of the “memoryload (%)” in the second record of the load information 13 c illustratedin the example of FIG. 5, by the control unit 14. An average load, 30%,of the memory which will be described later is registered in the entryof the “memory load (%)” in the third record of the load information 13c illustrated in the example of FIG. 5, by the control unit 14. Anaverage load, 20%, of the memory which will be described later isregistered in the entry of the “memory load (%)” in the fourth record ofthe load information 13 c illustrated in the example of FIG. 5, by thecontrol unit 14.

The average loads (%) of the lines due to the virtual machine which willbe described later are registered in the entry of the “load of SAN (%)”by the control unit 14. An average load, 10 (%), of the line 28 a due tothe virtual machine 21 a which will be described later is registered inthe entry of the “load of SAN (%)” in the first record of the loadinformation 13 c illustrated in the example of FIG. 5, by the controlunit 14. An average load, 5 (%), of the line 28 b due to the virtualmachine 21 b which will be described later is registered in the entry ofthe “load of SAN (%)” in the second record of the load information 13 cillustrated in the example of FIG. 5, by the control unit 14. An averageload, 30 (%), of the line 28 a due to the virtual machine 21 c whichwill be described later is registered in the entry of the “load of SAN(%)” in the third record of the load information 13 c illustrated in theexample of FIG. 5, by the control unit 14. An average load, 95 (%), ofthe line 28 b due to the virtual machine 21 d which will be describedlater is registered in the entry of the “load of SAN (%)” in the fourthrecord of the load information 13 c illustrated in the example of FIG.5, by the control unit 14.

The description is based on FIG. 2 again. Days and time zones when theback-up processes of the data in the system areas of the virtualmachines 22 a, 22 b, 23 a, and 24 a are performed are registered in theback-up information 13 d.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data structure of theback-up information.

The back-up information 13 d illustrated in the example of FIG. 6includes entries of a “day” and a “back-up time zone”. The informationitems indicating any one of Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday,Friday, Saturday, and Sunday are registered in the entry of the “day”.For example, as illustrated in FIG. 6, “Mon” indicating Monday isregistered in the entry of the “day” in a first record of the back-upinformation 13 d. As illustrated in FIG. 6, “Tue” indicating Tuesday isregistered in the entry of the “day” in a second record of the back-upinformation 13 d. As illustrated in FIG. 6, “Wed” indicating Wednesdayis registered in the entry of the “day” in a third record of the back-upinformation 13 d. As illustrated in FIG. 6, “Thu” indicating Thursday isregistered in the entry of the “day” in a fourth record of the back-upinformation 13 d. As illustrated in FIG. 6, “Fri” indicating Friday isregistered in the entry of the “day” in a fifth record of the back-upinformation 13 d. As illustrated in FIG. 6, “Sat” indicating Saturday isregistered in the entry of the “day” in a sixth record of the back-upinformation 13 d. As illustrated in FIG. 6, “Sun” indicating Sunday isregistered in the entry of the “day” in a seventh record of the back-upinformation 13 d.

In addition, the time zones of the back-up processes are registered inthe entry of the “back-up time zone”. For example, as illustrated inFIG. 6, a time zone of the back-up process from 12:00 am to 5:00 am isregistered in the entry of the “back-up time zone” in the first recordof the back-up information 13 d. As illustrated in FIG. 6, a time zoneof the back-up process from 2:00 am to 5:00 am is registered in theentry of the “back-up time zone” in the second record of the back-upinformation 13 d. As illustrated in FIG. 6, a time zone of the back-upprocess from 2:00 am to 5:00 am and a time zone of the back-up processfrom 10:00 pm to 12:00 am are registered in the entry of the “back-uptime zone” in the third record of the back-up information 13 d. Asillustrated in FIG. 6, a time zone of the back-up process from 12:00 amto 5:00 am is registered in the entry of the “back-up time zone” in thefourth record of the back-up information 13 d. As illustrated in FIG. 6,a time zone of the back-up process from 2:00 am to 5:00 am is registeredin the entry of the “back-up time zone” in the fifth record of theback-up information 13 d. As illustrated in FIG. 6, a time zone of theback-up process from 4:00 am to 7:00 am and a time zone of the back-upprocess from 9:00 pm to 12:00 am are registered in the entry of the“back-up time zone” in the sixth record of the back-up information 13 d.As illustrated in FIG. 6, a time zone of the back-up process from 12:00am to 7:00 am and a time zone of the back-up process from 9:00 pm to12:00 am are registered in the entry of the “back-up time zone” in theseventh record of the back-up information 13 d.

That is, the first record of the back-up information 13 d illustrated inthe example of FIG. 6 indicates that the back-up process of the data inthe system area of the virtual machines 22 a, 22 b, 23 a, and 24 a isperformed on Monday within the regulated time from 12:00 am to 5:00 am.The second record of the back-up information 13 d illustrated in theexample of FIG. 6 indicates that the back-up process of the data in thesystem area of the virtual machines 22 a, 22 b, 23 a, and 24 a isperformed on Tuesday within the regulated time from 2:00 am to 5:00 am.The third record of the back-up information 13 d illustrated in theexample of FIG. 6 indicates that the back-up process of the data in thesystem area of the virtual machines 22 a, 22 b, 23 a, and 24 a isperformed on Wednesday within the regulated time from 2:00 am to 5:00am. The third record of the back-up information 13 d illustrated in theexample of FIG. 6 also indicates that the back-up process of the data inthe system area of the virtual machines 22 a, 22 b, 23 a, and 24 a isperformed on Wednesday within the regulated time from 10:00 pm to 12:00am. The fourth record of the back-up information 13 d illustrated in theexample of FIG. 6 indicates that the back-up process of the data in thesystem area of the virtual machines 22 a, 22 b, 23 a, and 24 a isperformed on Thursday within the regulated time from 12:00 am to 5:00am. The fifth record of the back-up information 13 d illustrated in theexample of FIG. 6 indicates that the back-up process of the data in thesystem area of the virtual machines 22 a, 22 b, 23 a, and 24 a isperformed on Friday within the regulated time from 2:00 am to 5:00 am.The sixth record of the back-up information 13 d illustrated in theexample of FIG. 6 indicates that the back-up process of the data in thesystem area of the virtual machines 22 a, 22 b, 23 a, and 24 a isperformed on Saturday within the regulated time from 4:00 am to 7:00 am.The sixth record of the back-up information 13 d illustrated in theexample of FIG. 6 also indicates that the back-up process of the data inthe system area of the virtual machines 22 a, 22 b, 23 a, and 24 a isperformed on Saturday within the regulated time from 9:00 pm to 12:00am. The seventh record of the back-up information 13 d illustrated inthe example of FIG. 6 indicates that the back-up process of the data inthe system area of the virtual machines 22 a, 22 b, 23 a, and 24 a isperformed on Sunday within the regulated time from 12:00 am to 7:00 am.The seventh record of the back-up information 13 d illustrated in theexample of FIG. 6 also indicates that the back-up process of the data inthe system area of the virtual machines 22 a, 22 b, 23 a, and 24 a isperformed on Sunday within the regulated time from 9:00 pm to 12:00 am.

The description is based on FIG. 2 again. Names of the virtual machines22 a, 22 b, 23 a, and 24 a and sizes of data items in the system areasof the virtual machines 22 a, 22 b, 23 a, and 24 a are registered in thesize information 13 e.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data structure of thesize information. The size information 13 e illustrated in the exampleof FIG. 7 includes entries of a “virtual machine name of back-up target”and a “size of data in system area”. Names of the virtual machines ofany of the virtual machines 22 a, 22 b, 23 a, and 24 a are registered inthe entry of the “virtual machine name of back-up target”. For example,as illustrated in FIG. 7, an operation A which is the name of thevirtual machine 22 a is registered in the entry of the “virtual machinename of back-up target” in a first record of the size information 13 e.As illustrated in FIG. 7, an operation B which is the name of thevirtual machine 22 b is registered in the entry of the “virtual machinename of back-up target” in a second record of the size information 13 e.As illustrated in FIG. 7, an operation C which is the name of thevirtual machine 23 a is registered in the entry of the “virtual machinename of back-up target” in a third record of the size information 13 e.As illustrated in FIG. 7, an operation D which is the name of thevirtual machine 24 a is registered in the entry of the “virtual machinename of back-up target” in a fourth record of the size information 13 e.

Sizes of the data items in the system areas of the virtual machines 22a, 22 b, 23 a, and 24 a which are back-up targets are registered in theentry of the “size of data in system area”. For example, as illustratedin FIG. 7, a size, 20 GB, of the data in the system area of the virtualmachine 22 a, the name of which is the operation A, is registered in theentry of the “size of data in system area” in the first record of thesize information 13 e. As illustrated in FIG. 7, a size, 30 GB, of thedata in the system area of the virtual machine 22 b, the name of whichis the operation B, is registered in the entry of the “size of data insystem area” in the second record of the size information 13 e. Asillustrated in FIG. 7, a size, 10 GB, of the data in the system area ofthe virtual machine 23 a, the name of which is the operation C, isregistered in the entry of the “size of data in system area” in thethird record of the size information 13 e. As illustrated in FIG. 7, asize, 50 GB, of the data in the system area of the virtual machine 24 a,the name of which is the operation D, is registered in the entry of the“size of data in system area” in the fourth record of the sizeinformation 13 e.

The memory unit 13 is, for example, a semiconductor memory element suchas a flash memory or a memory device such as a hard disk or an opticaldisk.

By returning to the description of FIG. 2, the control unit 14 includesan internal memory for storing programs or control data items forregulating various process procedures, and executes various processeswith the programs and data items. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the controlunit 14 includes an acquisition unit 14 a, a first specifying unit 14 b,a second specifying unit 14 c, and a movement control unit 14 d.

The acquisition unit 14 a acquires band loads of the plurality of lines28 a and 28 b, resource usages of the plurality of management targetservers 22 to 24, and percentages of completion indicating a degree ofcompletion of the back-up process executed by the plurality of virtualmachines 21 a to 21 d.

An embodiment of the acquisition unit 14 a will be described. Theacquisition unit 14 a determines whether or not the current time is inthe time zone for performing the back-up process registered in theback-up information 13 d at predetermined time intervals (for example,at every 30 seconds), with reference to the back-up information 13 d.

When it is determined that the current time is in the time zone forperforming the back-up process registered in the back-up information 13d, that is, when it is determined that the current time is in the timezone when the virtual machines 21 a to 21 d perform the back-up process,the acquisition unit 14 a performs the following process. That is, theacquisition unit 14 a acquires maximum allowable quantities of the loadsof various resources (CPU, memory, and lines connected to each server)of each server of the back-up server 21 and the management targetservers 22 to 24 from the allowable load quantity table 13 a. Forexample, when the allowable load quantity table 13 a illustrated in theexample of FIG. 3 is stored in the memory unit 13, the acquisition unit14 a performs the following process. That is, the acquisition unit 14 aspecifies the record in which the back-up server is registered in theentry of the “physical server name”, and acquires the operationfrequency, 4 GHz, and the number of cores, 32, registered in the entryof the “CPU power” of the specified record, as the maximum allowablequantities of the load of the CPU of the back-up server 21. Theacquisition unit 14 a acquires the capacity of the memory, 128 GB,registered in the entry of the “memory capacity” of the specifiedrecord, as the maximum allowable quantity of the load of the memory ofthe back-up server 21. The acquisition unit 14 a acquires the band, 8Gbps, of the line 28 a, the name of which is the route 1 and the band, 8Gbps, of the line 28 b, the name of which is the route 2, registered inthe entry of the “network band (SAN)” of the specified record, as thefollowing values. That is, the acquisition unit 14 a acquires the band,8 Gbps, of the line 28 a, the name of which is the route 1 and the band,8 Gbps, of the line 28 b, the name of which is the route 2, as themaximum allowable quantities of the loads of the lines connected to theback-up server 21.

In addition, the acquisition unit 14 a specifies the record in which themanagement target server A is registered in the entry of the “physicalserver name”. The acquisition unit 14 a acquires the operationfrequency, 4 GHz, and the number of cores, 12, of the CPU as the maximumallowable quantities of the load of the CPU of the management targetserver 22, by performing the same process as the process described abovewith respect to the specified record. The acquisition unit 14 a acquiresthe capacity of the memory, 32 GB, as the maximum allowable quantity ofthe load of the memory of the management target server 22, by performingthe same process as the process described above with respect to thespecified record. The acquisition unit 14 a acquires the band, 8 Gbps,of the line 28 c, the name of which is the route 3, as the maximumallowable quantity of the load of the line connected to the managementtarget server 22, by performing the same process as the processdescribed above with respect to the specified record.

In addition, the acquisition unit 14 a specifies the record in which themanagement target server B is registered in the entry of the “physicalserver name”. The acquisition unit 14 a acquires the operationfrequency, 4 GHz, and the number of cores, 24, of the CPU as the maximumallowable quantities of the load of the CPU of the management targetserver 23, by performing the same process as the process described abovewith respect to the specified record. The acquisition unit 14 a acquiresthe capacity of the memory, 64 GB, as the maximum allowable quantity ofthe load of the memory of the management target server 23, by performingthe same process as the process described above with respect to thespecified record. The acquisition unit 14 a acquires the band, 8 Gbps,of the line 28 d, the name of which is the route 4, as the maximumallowable quantity of the load of the line connected to the managementtarget server 23, by performing the same process as the processdescribed above with respect to the specified record.

In addition, the acquisition unit 14 a specifies the record in which themanagement target server C is registered in the entry of the “physicalserver name”. The acquisition unit 14 a acquires the operationfrequency, 4 GHz, and the number of cores, 8, of the CPU as the maximumallowable quantities of the load of the CPU of the management targetserver 24, by performing the same process as the process described abovewith respect to the specified record. The acquisition unit 14 a acquiresthe capacity of the memory, 16 GB, as the maximum allowable quantity ofthe load of the memory of the management target server 24, by performingthe same process as the process described above with respect to thespecified record. The acquisition unit 14 a acquires the band, 4 Gbps,of the line 28 e, the name of which is the route 5, as the maximumallowable quantity of the load of the line connected to the managementtarget server 24, by performing the same process as the processdescribed above with respect to the specified record.

With the method described above, the acquisition unit 14 a acquires themaximum allowable quantities of the loads of the various resources ofservers of the back-up server 21 and the management target servers 22 to24, from the allowable load quantity table 13 a.

Next, the acquisition unit 14 a registers various information items inthe correspondence relation table 13 b and executes a correspondencerelation table generation process of generating the correspondencerelation table 13 b. In the correspondence relation table generationprocess, the acquisition unit 14 a, first, calculates the total ofmaximum bands of the lines 28 a and 28 b connected to the back-up server21. The acquisition unit 14 a, for example, calculates the total of thebands of the lines 28 a and 28 b previously acquired. When the allowableload quantity table 13 a illustrated in the example of FIG. 3 is storedin the memory unit 13, the acquisition unit 14 a calculates the total ofthe bands, 16 Gbps ((8+8) Gbps) of the lines 28 a and 28 b.

In the correspondence relation table generation process, the acquisitionunit 14 a calculates each rate of the bands of the lines 28 a and 28 bwith respect to the calculated total of the bands. When the allowableload quantity table 13 a illustrated in the example of FIG. 3 is storedin the memory unit 13, the acquisition unit 14 a calculates 8/16 as arate of the band of the line 28 a with respect to the total. Inaddition, the acquisition unit 14 a calculates 8/16 as a rate of theband of the line 28 b with respect to the total.

In the correspondence relation table generation process, the acquisitionunit 14 a specifies the virtual machine for executing the back-upprocess. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 1, when four virtualmachines 21 a to 21 d execute the back-up process, the acquisition unit14 a specifies the virtual machines 21 a to 21 d for executing theback-up process.

In the correspondence relation table generation process, the acquisitionunit 14 a selects all of the specified virtual machines one by one.Every time the virtual machine is selected, the acquisition unit 14 aassociates the selected machine with the lines 28 a and 28 b, accordingto the calculated rate. For example, when 8/16 is calculated as the rateof the band of the line 28 a with respect to the total and 8/16 iscalculated as the rate of the band of the line 28 b with respect to thetotal, the acquisition unit 14 a performs the following process. Thatis, the acquisition unit 14 a associates the virtual machine selectedwith a possibility of 50% with respect to the line 28 a and 50% withrespect to the line 28 b with any line of the line 28 a and line 28 b.Accordingly, the lines are associated with respect to all of thespecified virtual machines.

In the correspondence relation table generation process, the acquisitionunit 14 a registers the association of the virtual machines and thelines in the correspondence relation table 13 b. For example, when thevirtual machines 21 a and 21 c are associated with the line 28 a and thevirtual machines 21 b and 21 d are associated with the line 28 b, theacquisition unit 14 a performs the following process. That is, aspreviously illustrated in FIG. 4, the acquisition unit 14 a registersthe identifier A of the back-up program A executed by the virtualmachine 21 a in the entry of the “back-up program” of the correspondencerelation table 13 b. The acquisition unit 14 a registers the route 1which is the name of the line 28 a, in the entry of the “network route(SAN)” of the record in which the identifier A is registered in theentry of the “back-up program”. As previously illustrated in FIG. 4, theacquisition unit 14 a registers the identifier B of the back-up programB executed by the virtual machine 21 b in the entry of the “back-upprogram” of the correspondence relation table 13 b. The acquisition unit14 a registers the route 2 which is the name of the line 28 b, in theentry of the “network route (SAN)” of the record in which the identifierB is registered in the entry of the “back-up program”. As previouslyillustrated in FIG. 4, the acquisition unit 14 a registers theidentifier C of the back-up program C executed by the virtual machine 21c in the entry of the “back-up program” of the correspondence relationtable 13 b. The acquisition unit 14 a registers the route 1 which is thename of the line 28 a, in the entry of the “network route (SAN)” of therecord in which the identifier C is registered in the entry of the“back-up program”. As previously illustrated in FIG. 4, the acquisitionunit 14 a registers the identifier D of the back-up program D executedby the virtual machine 21 d in the entry of the “back-up program” of thecorrespondence relation table 13 b. The acquisition unit 14 a registersthe route 2 which is the name of the line 28 b, in the entry of the“network route (SAN)” of the record in which the identifier D isregistered in the entry of the “back-up program”.

As described above, the correspondence relation table 13 b is generatedby executing the correspondence relation table generation process.

When the correspondence relation table 13 b is generated, theacquisition unit 14 a controls so that the virtual machines 21 a to 21 dstart the back-up process. For example, when the correspondence relationtable 13 b is generated, the acquisition unit 14 a transmits aninstruction of causing the virtual machine 21 a to execute the back-upprogram A, to the VM host 21 e. The VM host 21 e which received such aninstruction transmits the instruction of executing the back-up program Ato the virtual machine 21 a. The virtual machine 21 a which received theinstruction of executing the back-up program A, executes the back-upprogram A according to the instruction. That is, the virtual machine 21a executes the back-up process. In the back-up process, the virtualmachine 21 a acquires data in the system area of the virtual machine 22a from the storage 26 a of the storage server 26, and transmits theacquired data in the system area to the storage server 27 through theline 28 a and the FC switch 25. Therefore, the data in the system areaof the virtual machine 22 a is stored in the back-up storage 27 a, andthe data in the system area of the virtual machine 22 a is duplicated.

When the correspondence relation table 13 b is generated, theacquisition unit 14 a transmits an instruction of causing the virtualmachine 21 b to execute the back-up program B, to the VM host 21 e. TheVM host 21 e which received such an instruction transmits theinstruction of executing the back-up program B to the virtual machine 21b. The virtual machine 21 b which received the instruction of executingthe back-up program B, executes the back-up program B according to theinstruction. That is, the virtual machine 21 b executes the back-upprocess. In the back-up process, the virtual machine 21 b acquires datain the system area of the virtual machine 22 b from the storage 26 a ofthe storage server 26, and transmits the acquired data in the systemarea to the storage server 27 through the line 28 b and the FC switch25. Therefore, the data in the system area of the virtual machine 22 bis stored in the back-up storage 27 a, and the data in the system areaof the virtual machine 22 b is duplicated.

When the correspondence relation table 13 b is generated, theacquisition unit 14 a transmits an instruction of causing the virtualmachine 21 c to execute the back-up program C, to the VM host 21 e. TheVM host 21 e which received such an instruction transmits theinstruction of executing the back-up program C to the virtual machine 21c. The virtual machine 21 c which received the instruction of executingthe back-up program C, executes the back-up program C according to theinstruction. That is, the virtual machine 21 c executes the back-upprocess. In the back-up process, the virtual machine 21 c acquires datain the system area of the virtual machine 23 a from the storage 26 a ofthe storage server 26, and transmits the acquired data in the systemarea to the storage server 27 through the line 28 a and the FC switch25. Therefore, the data in the system area of the virtual machine 23 ais stored in the back-up storage 27 a, and the data in the system areaof the virtual machine 23 a is duplicated.

When the correspondence relation table 13 b is generated, theacquisition unit 14 a transmits an instruction of causing the virtualmachine 21 d to execute the back-up program D, to the VM host 21 e. TheVM host 21 e which received such an instruction transmits theinstruction of executing the back-up program D to the virtual machine 21d. The virtual machine 21 d which received the instruction of executingthe back-up program D, executes the back-up program D according to theinstruction. That is, the virtual machine 21 d executes the back-upprocess. In the back-up process, the virtual machine 21 d acquires datain the system area of the virtual machine 24 a from the storage 26 a ofthe storage server 26, and transmits the acquired data in the systemarea to the storage server 27 through the line 28 b and the FC switch25. Therefore, the data in the system area of the virtual machine 24 ais stored in the back-up storage 27 a, and the data in the system areaof the virtual machine 24 a is duplicated.

The acquisition unit 14 a starts the measurement of the loads of variousresources when the virtual machines 21 a to 21 d execute the back-upprograms A to D. The acquisition unit 14 a registers the measured loadsof various resources to the load information 13 c. The acquisition unit14 a, for example, starts measuring the usages (GHz) of the CPU of thevirtual machine 21 a which executes the back-up program A, atpredetermined time intervals (for example, at every 3 seconds). Theacquisition unit 14 a performs the following process each time whenmeasuring the usage (GHz) of the CPU. That is, the acquisition unit 14 acalculates an average value of the usages of the CPU measured within thelast 5 minutes from the current time, and calculates a value obtained bymultiplying 100 by a value obtained by dividing the calculated averagevalue by the operation frequency, 4 GHz, of the CPU of the back-upserver 21, as an average load (%) of the CPU of the virtual machine 21a. For example, when the average value of the usages of the CPU of thevirtual machine 21 a measured within the last 5 minutes from the currenttime is 0.4 GHz, the acquisition unit 14 a calculates the average loadof the CPU of the virtual machine 21 a as 10%. The acquisition unit 14 aassociates the average load with the identifier A of the back-up programA and overwrites and registers the average load of the CPU of thevirtual machine 21 a in the load information 13 c.

The acquisition unit 14 a starts measuring the usages (GHz) of the CPUof the virtual machine 21 b which executes the back-up program B, atpredetermined time intervals (for example, at every 3 seconds). Theacquisition unit 14 a performs the following process each time whenmeasuring the usage (GHz) of the CPU. That is, the acquisition unit 14 acalculates an average value of the usages of the CPU measured within thelast 5 minutes from the current time, and calculates a value obtained bymultiplying 100 by a value obtained by dividing the calculated averagevalue by the operation frequency, 4 GHz, of the CPU of the back-upserver 21, as an average load (%) of the CPU of the virtual machine 21b. The acquisition unit 14 a associates the average load with theidentifier B of the back-up program B and overwrites and registers theaverage load of the CPU of the virtual machine 21 b in the loadinformation 13 c.

The acquisition unit 14 a starts measuring the usages (GHz) of the CPUof the virtual machine 21 c which executes the back-up program C, atpredetermined time intervals (for example, at every 3 seconds). Theacquisition unit 14 a performs the following process each time whenmeasuring the usage (GHz) of the CPU. That is, the acquisition unit 14 acalculates an average value of the usages of the CPU measured within thelast 5 minutes from the current time, and calculates a value obtained bymultiplying 100 by a value obtained by dividing the calculated averagevalue by the operation frequency, 4 GHz, of the CPU of the back-upserver 21, as an average load (%) of the CPU of the virtual machine 21c. The acquisition unit 14 a associates the average load with theidentifier C of the back-up program C and overwrites and registers theaverage load of the CPU of the virtual machine 21 c in the loadinformation 13 c.

The acquisition unit 14 a starts measuring the usages (GHz) of the CPUof the virtual machine 21 d which executes the back-up program D, atpredetermined time intervals (for example, at every 3 seconds). Theacquisition unit 14 a performs the following process each time whenmeasuring the usage (GHz) of the CPU. That is, the acquisition unit 14 acalculates an average value of the usages of the CPU measured within thelast 5 minutes from the current time, and calculates a value obtained bymultiplying 100 by a value obtained by dividing the calculated averagevalue by the operation frequency, 4 GHz, of the CPU of the back-upserver 21, as an average load (%) of the CPU of the virtual machine 21d. The acquisition unit 14 a associates the average load with theidentifier D of the back-up program D and overwrites and registers theaverage load of the CPU of the virtual machine 21 d in the loadinformation 13 c.

The acquisition unit 14 a starts measuring the usages (GB) of the memoryof the virtual machine 21 a which executes the back-up program A, atpredetermined time intervals (for example, at every 3 seconds). Theacquisition unit 14 a performs the following process each time whenmeasuring the usage (GB) of the memory. That is, the acquisition unit 14a calculates an average value of the usages of the memory measuredwithin the last 5 minutes from the current time, and calculates a valueobtained by multiplying 100 by a value obtained by dividing thecalculated average value by the capacity, 128 GB, of the memory of theback-up server 21, as an average load (%) of the memory of the virtualmachine 21 a. For example, when the average value of the usages of thememory of the virtual machine 21 a measured within the last 5 minutesfrom the current time is 25.6 GB, the acquisition unit 14 a calculatesthe average load of the memory of the virtual machine 21 a as 20%. Theacquisition unit 14 a associates the average load with the identifier Aof the back-up program A and overwrites and registers the average loadof the memory of the virtual machine 21 a in the load information 13 c.

The acquisition unit 14 a starts measuring the usages (GB) of the memoryof the virtual machine 21 b which executes the back-up program B, atpredetermined time intervals (for example, at every 3 seconds). Theacquisition unit 14 a performs the following process each time whenmeasuring the usage (GB) of the memory. That is, the acquisition unit 14a calculates an average value of the usages of the memory measuredwithin the last 5 minutes from the current time, and calculates a valueobtained by multiplying 100 by a value obtained by dividing thecalculated average value by the capacity, 128 GB, of the memory of theback-up server 21, as an average load (%) of the memory of the virtualmachine 21 b. The acquisition unit 14 a associates the average load withthe identifier B of the back-up program B and overwrites and registersthe average load of the memory of the virtual machine 21 b in the loadinformation 13 c.

The acquisition unit 14 a starts measuring the usages (GB) of the memoryof the virtual machine 21 c which executes the back-up program C, atpredetermined time intervals (for example, at every 3 seconds). Theacquisition unit 14 a performs the following process each time whenmeasuring the usage (GB) of the memory. That is, the acquisition unit 14a calculates an average value of the usages of the memory measuredwithin the last 5 minutes from the current time, and calculates a valueobtained by multiplying 100 by a value obtained by dividing thecalculated average value by the capacity, 128 GB, of the memory of theback-up server 21, as an average load (%) of the memory of the virtualmachine 21 c. The acquisition unit 14 a associates the average load withthe identifier C of the back-up program C and overwrites and registersthe average load of the memory of the virtual machine 21 c in the loadinformation 13 c.

The acquisition unit 14 a starts measuring the usages (GB) of the memoryof the virtual machine 21 d which executes the back-up program D, atpredetermined time intervals (for example, at every 3 seconds). Theacquisition unit 14 a performs the following process each time whenmeasuring the usage (GB) of the memory. That is, the acquisition unit 14a calculates an average value of the usages of the memory measuredwithin the last 5 minutes from the current time, and calculates a valueobtained by multiplying 100 by a value obtained by dividing thecalculated average value by the capacity, 128 GB, of the memory of theback-up server 21, as an average load (%) of the memory of the virtualmachine 21 d. The acquisition unit 14 a associates the average load withthe identifier D of the back-up program D and overwrites and registersthe average load of the memory of the virtual machine 21 d in the loadinformation 13 c.

The acquisition unit 14 a performs the following process atpredetermined time intervals (for example, at every 3 seconds). Forexample, the acquisition unit 14 a starts measuring data quantity (Gbps)of the back-up target data flowing, for 1 second, to the line 28 a usedwhen the virtual machine 21 a for executing the back-up program Aexecutes the back-up process. Herein, the back-up target data indicatesdata in the system area of the virtual machine 22 a. The acquisitionunit 14 a performs the following process each time when measuring thedata quantity. That is, the acquisition unit 14 a calculates an averagevalue of the data quantities measured within the last 5 minutes from thecurrent time, and calculates a value obtained by multiplying 100 by avalue obtained by dividing the calculated average value of the dataquantities by the band, 8 Gbps, of the line 28 a, as an average load (%)of the line 28 a due to the virtual machine 21 a. For example, when theaverage value of the data quantities of the back-up target data measuredwithin the last 5 minutes from the current time for 1 second is 0.8Gbps, the acquisition unit 14 a calculates the average load of the line28 a due to the virtual machine 21 a as 10%. The acquisition unit 14 aassociates the average load with the identifier A of the back-up programA and overwrites and registers the average load of the line 28 a due tothe virtual machine 21 a in the load information 13 c.

The acquisition unit 14 a performs the following process atpredetermined time intervals (for example, at every 3 seconds). Forexample, the acquisition unit 14 a starts measuring data quantity (Gbps)of the back-up target data flowing, for 1 second, to the line 28 b usedwhen the virtual machine 21 b for executing the back-up program Bexecutes the back-up process. Herein, the back-up target data indicatesdata in the system area of the virtual machine 22 b. The acquisitionunit 14 a performs the following process each time when measuring thedata quantity. That is, the acquisition unit 14 a calculates an averagevalue of the data quantities measured within the last 5 minutes from thecurrent time, and calculates a value obtained by multiplying 100 by avalue obtained by dividing the calculated average value of the dataquantities by the band, 8 Gbps, of the line 28 b, as an average load (%)of the line 28 b due to the virtual machine 21 b. The acquisition unit14 a associates the average load with the identifier B of the back-upprogram B and overwrites and registers the average load of the line 28 bdue to the virtual machine 21 b in the load information 13 c.

The acquisition unit 14 a performs the following process atpredetermined time intervals (for example, at every 3 seconds). Forexample, the acquisition unit 14 a starts measuring data quantity (Gbps)of the back-up target data flowing, for 1 second, to the line 28 a usedwhen the virtual machine 21 c for executing the back-up program Cexecutes the back-up process. Herein, the back-up target data indicatesdata in the system area of the virtual machine 23 a. The acquisitionunit 14 a performs the following process each time when measuring thedata quantity. That is, the acquisition unit 14 a calculates an averagevalue of the data quantities measured within the last 5 minutes from thecurrent time, and calculates a value obtained by multiplying 100 by avalue obtained by dividing the calculated average value of the dataquantities by the band, 8 Gbps, of the line 28 a, as an average load (%)of the line 28 a due to the virtual machine 21 c. The acquisition unit14 a associates the average load with the identifier C of the back-upprogram C and overwrites and registers the average load of the line 28 adue to the virtual machine 21 c in the load information 13 c.

The acquisition unit 14 a performs the following process atpredetermined time intervals (for example, at every 3 seconds). Forexample, the acquisition unit 14 a starts measuring data quantity (Gbps)of the back-up target data flowing, for 1 second, to the line 28 b usedwhen the virtual machine 21 d for executing the back-up program Dexecutes the back-up process. Herein, the back-up target data indicatesdata in the system area of the virtual machine 24 a. The acquisitionunit 14 a performs the following process each time when measuring thedata quantity. That is, the acquisition unit 14 a calculates an averagevalue of the data quantities measured within the last 5 minutes from thecurrent time, and calculates a value obtained by multiplying 100 by avalue obtained by dividing the calculated average value of the dataquantities by the band, 8 Gbps, of the line 28 b, as an average load (%)of the line 28 b due to the virtual machine 21 d. The acquisition unit14 a associates the average load with the identifier D of the back-upprogram D and overwrites and registers the average load of the line 28 bdue to the virtual machine 21 d in the load information 13 c.

With the method described above, the acquisition unit 14 a startsmeasuring the loads of various resources when the virtual machines 21 ato 21 d execute the back-up programs A to D, and starts updating theloads of various resources in the load information 13 c.

In addition, when it is determined that the first specifying unit 14 bwhich will be described later determines that there is an average loadexceeding a predetermined value (for example, 90%) among various averageloads registered in the load information 13 c, the acquisition unit 14 aperforms the following process. That is, the acquisition unit 14 aacquires the sizes of the data items in the system areas of the virtualmachines 22 a, 22 b, 23 a, and 24 a, from the size information 13 e.Next, the acquisition unit 14 a specifies the data quantity of the datain the system area of the virtual machine 22 a which has beentransmitted to the storage 27. The acquisition unit 14 a calculates avalue obtained by multiplying 100 by a value obtained by dividing thespecified data quantity by the size of the data in the system area ofthe virtual machine 22 a, as the percentage of completion (%) of theback-up process of the virtual machine 21 a. Next, the acquisition unit14 a specifies the data quantity of the data in the system area of thevirtual machine 22 b which has been transmitted to the storage 27. Theacquisition unit 14 a calculates a value obtained by multiplying 100 bya value obtained by dividing the specified data quantity by the size ofthe data in the system area of the virtual machine 22 b, as thepercentage of completion (%) of the back-up process of the virtualmachine 21 b. Next, the acquisition unit 14 a specifies the dataquantity of the data in the system area of the virtual machine 23 awhich has been transmitted to the storage 27. The acquisition unit 14 acalculates a value obtained by multiplying 100 by a value obtained bydividing the specified data quantity by the size of the data in thesystem area of the virtual machine 23 a, as the percentage of completion(%) of the back-up process of the virtual machine 21 c. Next, theacquisition unit 14 a specifies the data quantity of the data in thesystem area of the virtual machine 24 a which has been transmitted tothe storage 27. The acquisition unit 14 a calculates a value obtained bymultiplying 100 by a value obtained by dividing the specified dataquantity by the size of the data in the system area of the virtualmachine 24 a, as the percentage of completion (%) of the back-up processof the virtual machine 21 d. The percentage of completion of the back-upprocess is a value indicating a degree of completion of the back-upprocess. By doing so, the acquisition unit 14 a acquires the percentagesof completion of the back-up process.

When an increase of at least one used band of the plurality of lines 28a and 28 b is detected and delay of the back-up process using the linewith the detected increase of the used band is detected, the firstspecifying unit 14 b performs the following process. That is, the firstspecifying unit 14 b specifies any virtual machine which performs theback-up process by using the line with the detected increase of the usedband. At that time, the first specifying unit 14 b specifies the virtualmachine based on the correspondence relation between the plurality oflines 28 a and 28 b and the virtual machines 21 a to 21 d which performthe back-up process using the lines 28 a and 28 b. Herein, for example,when the back-up process is delayed, the back-up process is notcompleted within the regulated time.

An embodiment of the first specifying unit 14 b will be described. Forexample, when the measurement of the loads of various resources andupdating of the loads of various resources in the load information 13 cdescribed above are started by the acquisition unit 14 a, the firstspecifying unit 14 b performs the following process. That is, the firstspecifying unit 14 b determines whether or not there is an average loadexceeding a predetermined value, for example, 90%, among the averageloads of the CPU of the virtual machines 21 a to 21 d registered in theload information 13 c. The first specifying unit 14 b determines whetheror not there is an average load exceeding a predetermined value, forexample, 90%, among the average loads of the memory of the virtualmachines 21 a to 21 d registered in the load information 13 c. Inaddition, the first specifying unit 14 b calculates the total of theaverage load of the line 28 a due to the virtual machine 21 a and theaverage load of the line 28 a due to the virtual machine 21 c registeredin the load information 13 c, as an average load of the line 28 a.Further, the first specifying unit 14 b calculates the total of theaverage load of the line 28 b due to the virtual machine 21 b and theaverage load of the line 28 b due to the virtual machine 21 d registeredin the load information 13 c, as an average load of the line 28 b. Then,the first specifying unit 14 b determines whether or not there is anaverage load exceeding a predetermined value, for example, 90%, amongthe average load of the line 28 a and the average load of the line 28 b.

When it is determined that there is an average load exceeding apredetermined value (for example, 90%), the first specifying unit 14 bperforms the following process. That is, the first specifying unit 14 bspecifies the virtual machines having the average load exceeding thepredetermined value among the virtual machines 21 a to 21 d, anddetermines whether or not there is a percentage of completion equal toor smaller than a threshold value among the percentages of completion ofthe back-up process of the specified virtual machines. Herein, such athreshold value is a value calculated by the acquisition unit 14 a, andis a value obtained by multiplying 100 by a value obtained by dividingelapsed time from the start of the back-up process to the current timeby expected time of the back-up process. For example, the back-upinformation 13 d illustrated in the example of FIG. 6 is stored in thememory unit 13, and when the day is Monday and the current time is 2:00am, the acquisition unit 14 a calculates the threshold value as follows.That is, the acquisition unit 14 a multiplies 100 by a value obtained bydividing 2 hours which is the elapsed time from the start of the back-upprocess to the current time by 5 hours which is the expected time of theback-up process, and calculates the threshold value as 40%.

When it is determined that there is a percentage of completion equal toor smaller than a threshold value among the percentages of completion ofthe back-up process of the specified virtual machines, the firstspecifying unit 14 b determines whether or not there is negativeprogressing acceleration among progressing acceleration (%/s*s) of theback-up process with the percentage of completion which is equal to orsmaller than the threshold value. Herein, the progressing accelerationis a value calculated by the acquisition unit 14 a. When it isdetermined by the first specifying unit 14 b that there is a percentageof completion equal to or smaller than a threshold value among thepercentages of completion of the back-up process of the specifiedvirtual machines, the acquisition unit 14 a calculates a rate of changeof the percentage of completion for the last 5 minutes from the currenttime as progressing speed (%/s). The acquisition unit 14 a calculates arate of change of the progressing speed for the last 5 minutes from thecurrent time as progressing acceleration (%/s*s).

When it is determined that there is negative progressing accelerationamong the progressing acceleration in the back-up process with thepercentage of completion equal to or smaller than the threshold value,the first specifying unit 14 b performs the following process. That is,the first specifying unit 14 b determines whether or not the averageload exceeding the predetermined value (for example, 90%) is the averageload of the line 28 a or the average load of the line 28 b.

When it is determined that the average load exceeding the predeterminedvalue (for example, 90%) is the average load of the line 28 a or theaverage load of the line 28 b, the first specifying unit 14 b performsthe following process. That is, the first specifying unit 14 b specifiesthe virtual machine corresponding to the line having the average loadexceeding the predetermined value from the correspondence relation table13 b. When there is one specified virtual machine, the first specifyingunit 14 b specifies the specified virtual machine as a movement targetvirtual machine. Meanwhile, when there is the plurality of specifiedvirtual machines, the first specifying unit 14 b specifies a virtualmachine having the highest average load with respect to the line withthe average load exceeding the predetermined value as the movementtarget virtual machine, from the plurality of specified virtualmachines, with reference to the load information 13 c. For example, whenthe average load of the line 28 b exceeds the predetermined value andthe virtual machines 21 b and 21 d which corresponds to the line 28 b,the name of which is the route 2, and executes the back-up programs Band D specified from the correspondence relation table 13 b, the firstspecifying unit 14 b performs the following process. That is, the firstspecifying unit 14 b specifies the virtual machine 21 d having thehigher average load with respect to the line 28 b with the average loadexceeding the predetermined value from the virtual machines 21 b and 21d as the movement target virtual machine, with reference to the loadinformation 13 c illustrated in FIG. 5. Herein, the virtual machine 21 dis specified from the virtual machines 21 b and 21 d because the averageload, 95%, of the line 28 b due to the virtual machine 21 d is higherthan the average load, 5%, of the line 28 b due to the virtual machine21 b as illustrated in the load information 13 c of FIG. 5.

Meanwhile, when it is determined that the average load exceeding thepredetermined value (for example, 90%) is not the average load of theline 28 a and the average load of the line 28 b, the first specifyingunit 14 b performs the following process. That is, the first specifyingunit 14 b specifies the virtual machine having the average loadexceeding the predetermined value as the movement target virtualmachine.

The second specifying unit 14 c performs the following process based onthe degree of completion of the back-up process. That is, when thespecified movement target virtual machine is moved, the secondspecifying unit 14 c specifies the management target server whichsatisfies the conditions in which the back-up process executed by themoved virtual machine is not delayed, from the plurality of managementtarget servers 22 to 24.

An embodiment of the second specifying unit 14 c will be described. Forexample, when the movement target virtual machine is specified by thefirst specifying unit 14 b, the second specifying unit 14 c calculatesan average value of the usages of the CPU of the movement target virtualmachine from the start of the back-up process to the current timemeasured by the acquisition unit 14 a. The second specifying unit 14 ccalculates a first value obtained by dividing the calculated averagevalue by the data quantity of the data in the system area of themovement target virtual machine which has been transmitted to thestorage 27. The second specifying unit 14 c calculates a second valueobtained by multiplying the data quantity of the data in the system areaof the movement target virtual machine which is not transmitted to thestorage 27 by the calculated first value, as a value with the followingcontent. That is, the second specifying unit 14 c calculates the secondvalue, as the usage (GHz) of the CPU of the management target server atthe movement destination desired for completing the back-up process ofthe movement target virtual machine within the regulated time.

When the movement target virtual machine is specified by the firstspecifying unit 14 b, the second specifying unit 14 c calculates anaverage value of the usages of the memory of the movement target virtualmachine from the start of the back-up process to the current timemeasured by the acquisition unit 14 a. The second specifying unit 14 ccalculates a third value obtained by dividing the calculated averagevalue by the data quantity of the data in the system area of themovement target virtual machine which has been transmitted to thestorage 27. The second specifying unit 14 c calculates a fourth valueobtained by multiplying the data quantity of the data in the system areaof the movement target virtual machine which is not transmitted to thestorage 27 by the calculated third value, as a value with the followingcontent. That is, the second specifying unit 14 c calculates the fourthvalue, as the usage (GB) of the memory of the management target serverat the movement destination desired for completing the back-up processof the movement target virtual machine within the regulated time.

When the movement target virtual machine is specified by the firstspecifying unit 14 b, the second specifying unit 14 c performs thefollowing process. That is, the second specifying unit 14 c calculatesan average value of the data quantities (Gbps) of the data of theback-up target flowing, for 1 second, to the line used when the movementtarget virtual machine executes the back-up process from the start ofthe back-up process to the current time. The data quantities of the dataof the back-up target flowing, for 1 second, to the line used when themovement target virtual machine executes the back-up process from thestart of the back-up process to the current time, are measured by theacquisition unit 14 a. The second specifying unit 14 c calculates afifth value obtained by dividing the calculated average value by thedata quantity of the data in the system area of the movement targetvirtual machine which has been transmitted to the storage 27. The secondspecifying unit 14 c calculates a sixth value obtained by multiplyingthe data quantity of the data in the system area of the movement targetvirtual machine which is not transmitted to the storage 27 by thecalculated fifth value, as a value with the following content. That is,the second specifying unit 14 c calculates the sixth value, as the band(Gbps) of the line connected to the management target server at themovement destination desired for completing the back-up process of themovement target virtual machine within the regulated time.

The second specifying unit 14 c searches the management target serverwhich satisfies three conditions described below from the managementtarget servers 22 to 24. The first condition is a condition of includingthe CPU in which a usage equal to or greater than the calculated usage(GHz) of the CPU of the management target server at the movementdestination may be used. The second condition is a condition ofincluding the memory in which a usage equal to or greater than thecalculated usage (GB) of the memory of the management target server atthe movement destination may be used. The third condition is a conditionof being connected to the line in which a band equal to or greater thanthe calculated band (Gbps) of the line may be used. When there is onemanagement target server satisfying the three conditions as a result ofthe searching, the second specifying unit 14 c specifies the obtainedmanagement target server as a management target server for moving themovement target virtual machine.

When there are the plurality of management target servers satisfying thethree conditions as a result of the searching, the second specifyingunit 14 c performs the following process. That is, the second specifyingunit 14 c specifies the management target server having the smallestavailable usage of the CPU and the available usage of the memory fromthe plurality of obtained management target servers, as the managementtarget server for moving the movement target virtual machine. Herein, anexample of a factor of specifying the management target server havingthe smallest available usage of the CPU and the available usage of thememory as the management target server for moving the movement targetvirtual machine will be described. The requirement for the back-upprocess is to complete the process within the regulated time and not torapidly complete the process. Accordingly, the second specifying unit 14c specifies the management target server having a small usable resourcequantity, such as the management target server having the smallestavailable usage of the CPU and available usage of the memory, from themanagement target servers which complete the back-up process within theregulated time. Therefore, it is possible to suppress a decrease in theperformance of the process of the virtual machine executed on themanagement target server, due to the movement of the virtual machinewhich executes the back-up process.

Meanwhile, when there is no management target server satisfying thethree conditions as a result of the searching, the second specifyingunit 14 c performs the following process. That is, the second specifyingunit 14 c moves the virtual machines 22 a, 22 b, 23 a, and 24 a operatedon the management target servers 22 to 24 to the specified managementtarget server, and controls so that the available resource of anymanagement target server from the management target servers 22 to 24becomes greater. The second specifying unit 14 c performs a process ofsearching the management target server satisfying the three conditions.When there is one management target server satisfying the threeconditions as a result of the searching, the second specifying unit 14 cspecifies the obtained management target server as the management targetserver for moving the movement target virtual machine. In addition, whenthere is the plurality of management target servers satisfying the threeconditions as a result of the searching, the second specifying unit 14 cperforms the following process. That is, the second specifying unit 14 cspecifies the management target server having the smallest availableusage of the CPU and the available usage of the memory from theplurality of obtained management target servers, as the managementtarget server for moving the movement target virtual machine.

When an increase of at least one used band of lines 28 a and 28 b isdetected and delay of the back-up process using the line with thedetected increase of the used band is detected based on the degree ofcompletion of the back-up process, the movement control unit 14 dperforms the following process. That is, the movement control unit 14 dmoves any one of the virtual machines for performing the back-up processby using the line with the detected increase of the used band, to anymanagement target server of the plurality of management target servers22 to 24 from the back-up server 21.

An embodiment of the movement control unit 14 d will be described. Forexample, the movement control unit 14 d transmits a migrationinstruction of moving the movement target virtual machine specified bythe first specifying unit 14 b to the management target server specifiedby the second specifying unit 14 c, to the VM host 21 e. Accordingly,the movement target virtual machine is moved to the management targetserver for moving the movement target virtual machine. For example, whenthe virtual machine 21 d is specified as the movement target virtualmachine by the first specifying unit 14 b and the management targetserver 23 is specified as the management target server for moving themovement target virtual machine by the second specifying unit 14 c, themovement control unit 14 d performs the following process. That is, themovement control unit 14 d transmits the migration instruction of movingthe virtual machine 21 d to the management target server 23, to the VMhost 21 e. Accordingly, as illustrated in FIG. 8, the virtual machine 21d is moved to the management target server 23. The movement control unit14 d updates the correspondence relation table 13 b so that the name ofthe line connected to the management target server to which the movementtarget virtual machine is moved is associated and registered withrespect to the identifier of the back-up program executed by themovement target virtual machine.

The control unit 14 is a circuit such as the CPU.

Flow of Process

Next, a flow of the process executed by the management server 10according to the example will be described. FIGS. 9A and 9B areflowcharts illustrating a procedure of a controlling process accordingto an example. The controlling process according to an example isexecuted when the acquisition unit 14 a, for example, determines thatthe current time is in the time zone for performing the back-up processregistered in the back-up information 13 d, with reference to theback-up information 13 d.

As illustrated in FIG. 9A, the acquisition unit 14 a acquires themaximum allowable quantities of the loads of various resources (CPU,memory, and lines connected to each server) of each server of theback-up server 21 and the management target servers 22 to 24 from theallowable load quantity table 13 a (S101).

Next, the acquisition unit 14 a executes the correspondence relationtable generation process (S102). The correspondence relation tablegeneration process will be described. FIG. 10 is a flowchartillustrating a procedure of the correspondence relation table generationprocess according to the example. As illustrated in FIG. 10, theacquisition unit 14 a calculates the total of maximum bands of the lines28 a and 28 b connected to the back-up server 21 (S201).

The acquisition unit 14 a calculates each rate of the bands of the lines28 a and 28 b with respect to the calculated total of the bands (S202).The acquisition unit 14 a specifies the virtual machine for executingthe back-up process (S203).

The acquisition unit 14 a determines whether or not there is anunselected virtual machine among the specified virtual machines (S204).When it is determined that there is the unselected virtual machine(S204; Yes), the acquisition unit 14 a selects one unselected virtualmachine (S205).

The acquisition unit 14 a associates the selected virtual machine withthe lines 28 a and 28 b according to the calculated rate (S206), and theprocess returns to S204.

Meanwhile, when it is determined that there is no unselected virtualmachine (S204; No), the acquisition unit 14 a registers the associationof the associated virtual machine and the line in the correspondencerelation table 13 b (S207), and stores and returns the process resultsin the internal memory of the control unit 14.

By returning to the description of FIG. 9A, the acquisition unit 14 acontrols the virtual machine 21 a to 21 d to start the back-up process(S103). The acquisition unit 14 a starts the measurement of the loads ofvarious resources when the virtual machines 21 a to 21 d execute theback-up programs A to D, and starts the updating of the loads of variousresources in the load information 13 c (S104).

The first specifying unit 14 b determines whether or not there is theaverage load exceeding a predetermined value (for example, 90%), amongthe average loads of the CPU of the virtual machines 21 a to 21 dregistered in the load information 13 c. The first specifying unit 14 bdetermines whether or not there is an average load exceeding apredetermined value, for example, 90%, among the average loads of thememory of the virtual machines 21 a to 21 d registered in the loadinformation 13 c. In addition, the first specifying unit 14 b calculatesthe total of the average load of the line 28 a due to the virtualmachine 21 a and the average load of the line 28 a due to the virtualmachine 21 c registered in the load information 13 c, as an average loadof the line 28 a. Further, the first specifying unit 14 b calculates thetotal of the average load of the line 28 b due to the virtual machine 21b and the average load of the line 28 b due to the virtual machine 21 dregistered in the load information 13 c, as an average load of the line28 b. Then, the first specifying unit 14 b determines whether or notthere is an average load exceeding a predetermined value, for example,90%, among the average load of the line 28 a and the average load of theline 28 b (S105). When it is determined that there is no average loadexceeding a predetermined value (for example, 90%) (S105; No), the firstspecifying unit 14 b causes the process to proceed to S121 which will bedescribed later.

Meanwhile, when it is determined that there is an average load exceedinga predetermined value (for example, 90%) (S105; Yes), the firstspecifying unit 14 b performs the following process. That is, the firstspecifying unit 14 b specifies the virtual machines having the averageload exceeding the predetermined value among the virtual machines 21 ato 21 d, and determines whether or not there is a percentage ofcompletion equal to or smaller than a threshold value among thepercentages of completion of the back-up process of the specifiedvirtual machines (S106). When there is no percentage of completion equalto or smaller than a threshold value among the percentages of completionof the back-up process of the specified virtual machines (S106; No), thefirst specifying unit 14 b causes the process to proceed to S121 whichwill be described later.

Meanwhile, when there is a percentage of completion equal to or smallerthan a threshold value among the percentages of completion of theback-up process of the specified virtual machines (S106; Yes), the firstspecifying unit 14 b performs the following process. That is, the firstspecifying unit 14 b determines whether or not there is negativeprogressing acceleration among progressing acceleration (%/s*s) of theback-up process with the percentage of completion which is equal to orsmaller than the threshold value (S107). When it is determined thatthere is no negative progressing acceleration (S107; No), the firstspecifying unit 14 b causes the process to proceed to S121 which will bedescribed later.

Meanwhile, when it is determined that there is negative progressingacceleration (S107; Yes), the first specifying unit 14 b performs thefollowing process. That is, the first specifying unit 14 b determineswhether or not the average load exceeding the predetermined value (forexample, 90%) is the average load of the line 28 a or the average loadof the line 28 b (S108).

When it is determined that the average load exceeding the predeterminedvalue (for example, 90%) is the average load of the line 28 a or theaverage load of the line 28 b (S108; Yes), the first specifying unit 14b performs the following process. That is, the first specifying unit 14b specifies the virtual machine corresponding to the line having theaverage load exceeding the predetermined value from the correspondencerelation table 13 b (S109).

When there is one specified virtual machine, the first specifying unit14 b specifies the specified virtual machine as a movement targetvirtual machine. When there is the plurality of specified virtualmachines, the first specifying unit 14 b specifies a virtual machinehaving the highest average load with respect to the line with theaverage load exceeding the predetermined value as the movement targetvirtual machine, from the plurality of specified virtual machines, withreference to the load information 13 c (5110).

Meanwhile, when it is determined that the average load exceeding thepredetermined value (for example, 90%) is not the average load of theline 28 a and the average load of the line 28 b (S108; No), the firstspecifying unit 14 b performs the following process. That is, the firstspecifying unit 14 b specifies the virtual machine having the averageload exceeding the predetermined value as the movement target virtualmachine (S111).

The second specifying unit 14 c calculates the usage (GHz) of the CPU ofthe management target server at the movement destination desired forcompleting the back-up process of the movement target virtual machinewithin the regulated time. The second specifying unit 14 c calculatesthe usage (GB) of the memory of the management target server at themovement destination desired for completing the back-up process of themovement target virtual machine within the regulated time. The secondspecifying unit 14 c calculates the band (Gbps) of the line connected tothe management target server at the movement destination desired forcompleting the back-up process of the movement target virtual machinewithin the regulated time (S112).

The second specifying unit 14 c searches the management target serverwhich satisfies the three conditions described above from the managementtarget servers 22 to 24 (S113). The second specifying unit 14 cdetermines whether or not there is the management target serversatisfying the three conditions as a result of the searching (S114).When it is determined that there is a management target serversatisfying the three conditions (S114; Yes), the second specifying unit14 c determines whether or not there are the plurality of obtainedmanagement target servers (S115). When there is one management targetserver (S115; No), the second specifying unit 14 c specifies theobtained management target server as the management target server formoving the movement target virtual machine (S116) and causes the processto proceed to S119 which will be described later.

Meanwhile, when it is determined that there are the plurality ofobtained management target servers (S115; Yes), the second specifyingunit 14 c performs the following process. That is, the second specifyingunit 14 c specifies the management target server having the smallestavailable usage of the CPU and the available usage of the memory fromthe plurality of obtained management target servers, as the managementtarget server for moving the movement target virtual machine (S117) andcauses the process to proceed to S119 which will be described later.

When it is determined that there is no management target serversatisfying the three conditions as a result of the searching (S114; No),the second specifying unit 14 c performs the following process. That is,the second specifying unit 14 c moves the virtual machines 22 a, 22 b,23 a, and 24 a to the specified management target server, and controlsso that the available resource of any management target server from themanagement target servers 22 to 24 becomes greater (S118), and theprocess returns to S113.

The movement control unit 14 d transmits a migration instruction ofmoving the movement target virtual machine specified by the firstspecifying unit 14 b to the management target server specified by thesecond specifying unit 14 c, to the VM host 21 e (S119). The movementcontrol unit 14 d performs the following process, so that the name ofthe line connected to the management target server to which the movementtarget virtual machine is moved is associated and registered withrespect to the identifier of the back-up program executed by themovement target virtual machine. That is, the movement control unit 14 dupdates the correspondence relation table 13 b (S120).

The movement control unit 14 d determines whether or not the back-upprocess is in progress (S121). When it is determined that the back-upprocess is in progress (S121; Yes), the movement control unit 14 dcauses the process to return to S105. Meanwhile, when it is determinedthat the back-up process is not in progress (S121; No), the movementcontrol unit 14 d causes the controlling process to end.

As described above, the management server 10 according to the exampleacquires the band loads of the lines 28 a and 28 b, the resource usagesof the plurality of management target servers 22 to 24, the degree ofcompletion of the back-up process executed by the virtual machines 21 ato 21 d. When an increase of at least one used band of lines 28 a and 28b is detected and delay of the back-up process using the line with thedetected increase of the used band is detected based on the degree ofcompletion, the management server 10 performs the following process.That is, the management server 10 moves any one of the virtual machines21 a to 21 d for performing the back-up process by using the line withthe detected increase of the used band, to any of the plurality ofmanagement target servers 22 to 24 from the back-up server 21. Themanagement target server at the movement destination of the movementtarget virtual machine is determined with the condition that no delay ofthe back-up process executed by the virtual machine to be moved, whenthe movement target virtual machine is moved, is expected based on thedegree of completion. Therefore, according to the management server 10,when the route is a factor of the delay of the back-up process, it ispossible to suppress the delay of the back-up process.

The management server 10 specifies the management target server havingthe smallest available resource among the management target serverssatisfying the conditions described above, as the management targetserver at the movement destination of the movement target virtualmachine. Accordingly, it is possible to suppress a decrease in theperformance of the process of the virtual machine executed on themanagement target server, due to the movement of the virtual machinewhich executes the back-up process.

When it is determined that the back-up process tends to be delayed,based on the progressing acceleration based on the percentages ofcompletion indicating a degree of completion of the back-up processusing the line with the detected increase of the used band, themanagement server 10 performs the following process. That is, themanagement server 10 specifies the virtual machine in which the back-upprocess tends to be delayed based on the degree of completion of theback-up process, as the movement target virtual machine, among thevirtual machines 21 a to 21 d, based on the registered content of thecorrespondence relation table 13 b. Accordingly, the management server10 may specify the movement target virtual machine by detecting theprogressing acceleration which is an index for detecting the delaytendency based on the degree of completion of the back-up process, andtherefore the management server 10 may specify the movement targetvirtual machine by detecting the delay tendency.

Hereinabove, the examples regarding the system and the apparatus of theembodiment have been described, but the embodiment may be realized withvarious other examples, other than the examples described above.

For example, the back-up server 21 and the plurality of managementtarget servers 22 to 24 may be connected to the plurality of redundantlines, and the virtual machines operating on the management targetservers may transmit the data in system area to the back-up server 21.In this case, the virtual machine for performing the back-up processoperating on the back-up server 21 may perform the back-up process withthe same method as described above, by using the data in the system areatransmitted from the virtual machines operating on the management targetservers.

Among the processes described in the examples, all or a part of theprocesses described to be automatically performed may be manuallyperformed. Among the processes described in the examples, all or a partof the processes described to be manually performed may be automaticallyperformed with the well-known method.

The processes in the steps of the processes described in the examplesmay be arbitrarily divided into several processes or may be combinedwith each other, according to various loads or state of use. Inaddition, the steps may be omitted.

The order of the processes in the steps of the processes described inthe examples may be changed according to various loads or state of use.

The constituent elements of the devices illustrated in the drawings areconceptual in functions, and the configurations illustrated in thedrawings are not physically desired. That is, the detailed state of thedispersion and integration of the devices is not limited to thedrawings, and all or a part of the devices may be configured to befunctionally or physically dispersed and integrated in an arbitraryunit, according to various loads or state of use.

Controlling Process

Various processes of the management server 10 described in the examplesdescribed above may be realized by executing the program prepared inadvance by a computer system such as a personal computer or a workstation. Hereinafter, an example of a computer which executes thecontrolling program, including the same function as that of themanagement server 10 described in the examples described above will bedescribed, with reference to FIG. 11. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustratinga computer which executes the controlling program.

As illustrated in FIG. 11, a computer 300 includes a CPU 310, a ROM 320,an HDD 330, a RAM 340, a display device 350, and a communication device360. The devices 310 to 360 are connected to each other through a bus370.

The display device 350 is, for example, a liquid crystal display. Thedisplay device 350 corresponds to the display unit 11. The communicationdevice 360 is a network card or the like. The communication device 360corresponds to the communication unit 12.

A basic program such as an operating system (OS) is stored in the ROM320. A controlling program 330 a which exhibits the same function asthat of the acquisition unit 14 a, the first specifying unit 14 b, thesecond specifying unit 14 c, and the movement control unit 14 dillustrated in the examples described above is stored in advance in theHDD 330. The HDD 330 includes various data items stored in the memoryunit 13.

The CPU 310 reads out the controlling program 330 a from the HDD 330 andexecutes the controlling program.

The CPU 310 reads out the various data items from the HDD 330 and storesthe data items in the RAM 340. The CPU 310 further executes thecontrolling program 330 a by using the various data items stored in theRAM 340. Regarding the data items stored in the RAM 340, all of the dataitems may not be stored in the RAM 340. The data items to be used in theprocess may be stored in the RAM 340.

The controlling program 330 a described above may not be stored in theHDD 330 from the initial stage.

For example, the program may be stored in a “portable physical medium”such as a flexible disk (FD), a CD-ROM, a DVD, a magnet-optical disk, oran IC card to be inserted into the computer 300. Then, the computer 300may read out the program and execute the program from the mediumdescribed above.

In addition, the program may be stored in “another computer (or server)”connected to the computer 300 through a public line, the Internet, aLAN, or a WAN. Then, the computer 300 may read out the program andexecute the program from the computer or the server.

All examples and conditional language recited herein are intended forpedagogical purposes to aid the reader in understanding the inventionand the concepts contributed by the inventor to furthering the art, andare to be construed as being without limitation to such specificallyrecited examples and conditions, nor does the organization of suchexamples in the specification relate to a showing of the superiority andinferiority of the invention. Although the embodiments of the presentinvention have been described in detail, it should be understood thatthe various changes, substitutions, and alterations could be made heretowithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A controlling method realized by a computerconnected to a plurality of physical devices in which respective virtualmachines are operated and a process device which is connected to theplurality of physical devices with a plurality of routes and in which aplurality of duplication process virtual machines for executing aduplication process of duplicating data used by the plurality of virtualmachines to a memory device different from the plurality of the physicaldevices are operated, the method comprising: acquiring loads of theplurality of routes and percentages of completion of the duplicationprocess executed by the plurality of duplication process virtualmachines; when the route is selected based on a used band andincompletion of the duplication process using the selected route withina regulated time is detected based on the percentage of completion,moving any of the duplication process virtual machines for performingthe duplication process using the selected route to any of the pluralityof physical devices from the process device; and when incompletion ofthe duplication process using the selected route within a regulated timeis detected based on the percentage of completion, specifying anyduplication process virtual machines for performing the duplicationprocess using the selected route, based on a correspondence relationbetween the plurality of routes and the duplication process virtualmachines for performing the duplication process using the routes,wherein the physical device at a movement destination is determined withthe condition that completion of the duplication process executed by theduplication process virtual machine to be moved, when the duplicationprocess virtual machine as a movement target is moved, is expected basedon the percentage of completion.
 2. The method according to claim 1,wherein the physical device at the movement destination is a physicaldevice in which available resources included by the physical device atthe movement destination are smallest among the plurality of physicaldevices satisfying the condition.
 3. The method according to claim 1,wherein the process of moving any duplication process virtual machinefor performing the duplication process using the selected route to anyof the plurality of physical devices from the process device includes:when the specified duplication process virtual machine is moved from theplurality of the physical devices, specifying the physical devicesatisfying the condition that the duplication process executed by themoved duplication process virtual machine is completed within aregulated time, based on the percentage of completion; and moving thespecified duplication process virtual machine to the specified physicaldevice from the process device.
 4. The method according to claim 3,wherein, in the process of specifying any of the duplication processvirtual machines, when incompletion of the duplication process using theselected route within a regulated time is detected based on thepercentage of completion and it is detected that a rate of change in thepercentage of completion of the duplication process using the selectedroute is a negative value, the duplication process virtual machinehaving a negative value of the rate of change in the percentage ofcompletion of the duplication process is specified based on thecorrespondence relation.
 5. A non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium storing a controlling program causing a computer connected to aplurality of physical devices in which respective virtual machines areoperated and a process device which is connected to the plurality ofphysical devices with a plurality of routes and in which a plurality ofduplication process virtual machines for executing a duplication processof duplicating data used by the plurality of virtual machines to amemory device different from the plurality of the physical devices areoperated, to execute: acquiring loads of the plurality of routes andpercentages of completion of the duplication process executed by theplurality of duplication process virtual machines; when the route isselected based on a used band and incompletion of the duplicationprocess using the selected route within a regulated time is detectedbased on the percentage of completion, moving any of the duplicationprocess virtual machines for performing the duplication process usingthe selected route to any of the plurality of physical devices from theprocess device; and when incompletion of the duplication process usingthe selected route within a regulated time is detected based on thepercentage of completion, specifying any duplication process virtualmachines for performing the duplication process using the selectedroute, based on a correspondence relation between the plurality ofroutes and the duplication process virtual machines for performing theduplication process using the routes, wherein the physical device at amovement destination is determined with the condition that completion ofthe duplication process executed by the duplication process virtualmachine to be moved, when the duplication process virtual machine as amovement target is moved, is expected based on the percentage ofcompletion.
 6. The storage medium according to claim 5, wherein thephysical device at the movement destination is a physical device inwhich available resources included by the physical device at themovement destination are smallest among the plurality of physicaldevices satisfying the condition.
 7. The storage medium according toclaim 5, wherein the process of moving any duplication process virtualmachine for performing the duplication process using the selected routeto any of the plurality of physical devices from the process deviceincludes: when the specified duplication process virtual machine ismoved from the plurality of the physical devices, specifying thephysical device satisfying the condition that the duplication processexecuted by the moved duplication process virtual machine is completedwithin a regulated time, based on the percentage of completion; andmoving the specified duplication process virtual machine to thespecified physical device from the process device.
 8. The storage mediumaccording to claim 7, wherein, in the process of specifying any of theduplication process virtual machines, when incompletion of theduplication process using the selected route within a regulated time isdetected based on the percentage of completion and it is detected that arate of change in the percentage of completion of the duplicationprocess using the selected route is a negative value, the duplicationprocess virtual machine having a negative value of the rate of change inthe percentage of completion of the duplication process is specifiedbased on the correspondence relation.
 9. A controlling apparatus whichis connected to a plurality of physical devices in which respectivevirtual machines are operated and a process device which is connected tothe plurality of physical devices with a plurality of routes and inwhich a plurality of duplication process virtual machines for executinga duplication process of duplicating data used by the plurality ofvirtual machines to a memory device different from the plurality of thephysical devices are operated, the apparatus comprising: a memory; and aprocessor coupled to the memory and configured to: acquire loads of theplurality of routes and percentages of completion of the duplicationprocess executed by the plurality of duplication process virtualmachines; move any of the duplication process virtual machines forperforming the duplication process using the selected route to any ofthe plurality of physical devices from the process device, when theroute is selected based on a used band and incompletion of theduplication process using the selected route within a regulated time isdetected based on the percentage of completion; and when incompletion ofthe duplication process using the selected route within a regulated timeis detected based on the percentage of completion, specify anyduplication process virtual machines for performing the duplicationprocess using the selected route, based on a correspondence relationbetween the plurality of routes and the duplication process virtualmachines for performing the duplication process using the routes,wherein the physical device at a movement destination is determined withthe condition that completion of the duplication process executed by theduplication process virtual machine to be moved, when the duplicationprocess virtual machine as a movement target is moved, is expected basedon the percentage of completion.
 10. The apparatus according to claim 9,wherein the physical device at the movement destination is a physicaldevice in which available resources included by the physical device atthe movement destination are smallest among the plurality of physicaldevices satisfying the condition.
 11. The apparatus according to claim9, wherein the process of moving any duplication process virtual machinefor performing the duplication process using the selected route to anyof the plurality of physical devices from the process device includes:when the specified duplication process virtual machine is moved from theplurality of the physical devices, specifying the physical devicesatisfying the condition that the duplication process executed by themoved duplication process virtual machine is completed within aregulated time, based on the percentage of completion; and moving thespecified duplication process virtual machine to the specified physicaldevice from the process device.
 12. The apparatus according to claim 11,wherein, in the process of specifying any of the duplication processvirtual machines, when incompletion of the duplication process using theselected route within a regulated time is detected based on thepercentage of completion and it is detected that a rate of change in thepercentage of completion of the duplication process using the selectedroute is a negative value, the duplication process virtual machinehaving a negative value of the rate of change in the percentage ofcompletion of the duplication process is specified based on thecorrespondence relation.